Diadem
by Seratin
Summary: One twist, one change in the past can result in an entirely new future. With different allies and ever present enemies, destiny takes hold. A story exploring what effect a different Harry would have on the timeline. A/U
1. Chapter one

A/N: I wont be updating Tide of war for a while because I cant get this idea out of my head. This will **not** be a super!Harry fic, but he wont be completely useless. Thanks to All-powerful-oz for the beta work and to Ragin' Cajun for plot help!

**Chapter one; Small changes**

Margaret Polkiss walked briskly down Privet Drive. All was well. No terrorists, no gangs, no floating rakes. Yes, all was well with Mrs. Polkiss' life. Privet Drive exuded normalcy, and that suited her down to the ground. She was queen of this neighbourhood, she owned it.

Nobody else here, made quite as good a cake as hers. Nobody else here, kept their garden in quite as good condition. Nobody else here, had a cousin that worked as a judge in the "Surrey house & garden" competition.

There was, however, one flaw in her perfect life. One constant thorn in her side. Number four.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were a nice couple really. They contributed to the funding for the local park, they showed up at every garden fete, but nobody could deny it. There was something abnormal in that house, something that didn't fit. The boy.

That Potter boy was a disgrace, after all, Vernon and Petunia had taken him in, but was he grateful? Not a chance. Instead, he ran around playing tag with Dudley and Piers, slowly infecting them with his…_weirdness. _Why, just this afternoon little Piers had come home telling a completely ridiculous tale about flying rakes. It had to stop.

Confidently, she strode up the driveway of number four and gave the door a sharp rap. The door opened to reveal the nervous face of Petunia Dursley.

"Hello Margaret, would you like to come in? I've just finished a batch of biscuits…" She trailed off invitingly.

"No thank you Pet, I've just come to have a little chat about the boys. Dudley is a charming young man, but I'm rather concerned about young Harry. To be frank Petunia, I think he's a bad influence on Piers, he came home today with some fanciful story about magic and murderous rakes. I would appreciate it if you could do something about the situation. I know how hard it must be for him without his parents, but he simply cannot go around spreading lies and nastiness."

Throughout the little rant, Petunia's face began to slowly lose colour. Dudley had returned home today in hysterics, he had said that Harry had used _magic_ on him. The boy had been dealt with, but that was before she knew that there was another witness.

"Of course Margaret, I'll deal with him right away, kids can spread such vicious lies if they believe it's the truth. I'll nip this in the bud and Harry will stay away indoors for the summer as punishment. Is that agreeable to you?"

"Of course Pet. We only want what's best for the children, don't we? I hope to see you at the fete this fortnight?" She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Looking forward to it", replied Petunia brightly.

"Excellent. Oh and Pet? Be a dear and have Vernon mow the lawn. It's looking rather…_bedraggled_" .

Petunia Dursley was left speechless as Mrs. Polkiss took one last disdainful look around her, smiled brightly, and made her way down the driveway.

**_D_**

He had stumbled across Piers and Dudley standing over a battered looking half lit cigarette, sharing drags. Unfortunately for Harry, they spotted him and decided to make sure he kept quiet.

They were chasing him through Mrs. Charlton's back garden when he tripped on a garden rake, and fell and cut his knee on the ornamental pond. He had looked up to see Piers helping Dudley over the fence and had closed his eyes, desperately thinking of a way to stop them.

The rake, that bloody rake, had shuddered and suddenly sprung from the ground, flying in the direction of Dudley's face. It hit him, and with a howl, Dudley fell backwards off the fence and landed on his arse. Piers took one look at the still hovering rake, before bursting into tears and running home.

Now, two hours and several interrogations later, nine year old Harry Potter lay in his cupboard, desperately trying to figure out what happened and how he was going to avoid spending the rest of his natural born life locked in a cupboard under the stairs.

If the thought wasn't so ridiculous, he would have said it was magic.

Harry was a fairly intelligent boy. As much as it interested him, he knew magic didn't exist. Two years of writing Dudley's book reviews, always so it was different and of a better quality than his own, had somewhat sharpened his mind. He didn't mind all that much. The book reviews were a chance for him to read without having to answer the inane questions posed by his Aunt.

The first day he had brought a book home from the school library, she had been a nightmare. It was as though she expected him to have hollowed it out and used it to smuggle drugs. On the other hand, she didn't mind the books as long as they were "helping" Dudders, so he used it to his advantage.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The rake must have been caught up in a strong gust of air, it was plastic and didn't weigh that much anyway.

_'Still,' he thought, 'that doesn't explain the time I ended up on the roof.'_

Dispelling those thoughts, he reached under his cot for a book, lay back, and waited for the sounds of tyres in the driveway.

He would find an answer.

**_D_**

**Two years later**

Harry woke up slowly. He took in the _inspiring_ view of the underside of number four's staircase and mentally counted the days since the 'zoo incident'. He realised that today was the day his punishment ended and he let a rare smile grace his face. Raising himself off his cot to get dressed, he winced as his stiff legs protested.

"Stupid glass", he muttered.

After all, what business did a pane of glass have disappearing? It was the latest in a long list of abnormal things that had happened to Harry during his life. The 'jumper incident', the 'roof incident', the 'rake incident', and now the vanishing glass.

In the face of all that, he could almost forget the fact that he could apparently talk to a large Boa constrictor.

Almost.

Since his last little episode with the rake, Harry had been reading more and more, desperately searching for an answer. The closest he had come was a few months ago when Dudley had been watching a programme about psychic people. After much thought he had come to the conclusion that that was stupid. There were logical explanations for all the strange things that happened to him. There had to be.

He reached out to test the door handle. The lock was gone, which meant that he was expected to make breakfast.

'_Oh well, back to normal.'_

Harry sat at the breakfast table and watched in interest, as his Uncle and his cousin raced to see who could have the biggest heart attack. Admittedly Uncle Vernon had a much larger lead, but that wasn't deterring Dudley, who seemed intent on making up ground.

The letterbox clicked and they heard the sound of falling post. Vernon raised his head.

"Get the post Dudley."

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the post Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your Smeltings stick Dudley."

Harry suppressed a sigh as he avoided the blow from Dudley's stick, and walked dutifully to the door. He casually picked up the mail and flicked through it. One particularly heavy letter caught his attention.

Mr H. Potter

The cupboard under the stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

With a cautious glance towards the kitchen, Harry stowed away his letter in the waistband of his jeans and covered it with his shirt. He passed the post to his Uncle and quickly excused himself, before walking steadily towards his cupboard.

He cautiously broke open the wax seal and removed the parchment that lay inside. It had a slightly yellowish tint and smelled rather musty.

He stared at it for a few seconds before starting to read.

_**Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry**_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(order of Merlin first class. Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International confederation of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been enrolled at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress _

Harry's first reaction was to laugh at the rather obvious prank, but he paused. Was there a better explanation as to why he had those little episodes? Or why the one thing that Dudley had been forbidden in his whole life, was a magician for his party?

Harry had learned early on that saying the _M _wordaround his Aunt and Uncle was a mistake. Why would they be so afraid of something that didn't exist?

He looked at the second part of the letter, an Equipment list. Someone had really taken their time with this. Cauldron? Wand? Robes? And how was he supposed to catch an owl to send a reply?

No, he decided. However much he wished it was real, it had to be scam. After all, Uncle Vernon had been tricked into thinking that he had won a car by some telephone fraudster a few years back.

It had to be a fake.

**_D_**

Harry sat on the musty old couch trying not to touch anything, and to concentrate on the collection of photos in his hand. It was a swelteringly hot day and normally he wouldn't have minded being indoors in the shade. Normally, that is, but Harry Potter wasn't in an entirely normal situation. He was currently sat on a smelly old couch, choking on the stench of cat sweat.

Harry knew a fair amount for his age. His love of books had made sure of that. But what he hadn't known, was that on a hot day in July, amongst a large group of cats, the smell can reach almost unbearable levels.

The Dursley's had taken Dudley to London for the day to celebrate his going to Smeltings. After what happened the last time they took Harry with them, there wasn't a chance of him going this time. They had rang Mrs. Figg and asked her politely to look after him for the day. She of course had gladly accepted, saying that her leg was feeling much better.

That was why Harry was currently sitting on a couch surrounded by cats, flipping through a photo album.

The old lady limped into the room and gave him a bright smile. Leaning over to take a look, she jabbed a finger at one of the pictures, and sighed sentimentally.

"Boskins was one of my favourites, sadly he passed away last year," she said sadly. "So, Harry, how is little Dudley getting along?"

Harry forced a polite smile, "He's getting along fine Mrs. Figg."

The old lady looked confused for a second, "How's he coping though? He must be a little jealous."

Now Harry was confused. What in the world would Dudley have to be jealous about? His look of confusion must have shown on his face, because, suddenly hesitant she added, "you did get your letter didn't you?"

"Letter?" he responded. The letter was all he could think about for the last week. "What type of letter?"

She looked worried for a moment and said hesitantly "Your Hogwarts letter dear, you did get it didn't you?"

Now he was interested, "How do you know about it? It's just a scam, do you know who sent it?"

Mrs. Figg paled, "Oh dear, I don't think I'm the one to explain this Harry. How about you make a pot of tea and I'll make a quick call?"

"No, Mrs. Figg, what exactly is going on?"

"Just wait in the kitchen for a few moments Harry, you'll get an explanation soon."

**_D_**

Albus Dumbledore looked up as his floo roared to life, and Arabella Figg's head appeared amongst the flames.

"Ah, Arabella, what can I do for you? I trust that Harry's alright?"

"Fine Albus, I find myself with a bit of a problem on my hands though. It seems that while Harry has received his letter, he just doesn't believe it…Albus, I don't think the Dursley's have told him."

Albus frowned, he hadn't expected the Dursley's to pamper Harry, but to deny him his heritage? "Will he need to be escorted to the Alley for his school things?" he asked tactfully.

"His relatives have gone off to London today, I doubt they would be happy at the prospect of escorting him back to get supplies. Albus, we need someone to explain all this to him" she replied.

That was a problem, it would draw too much attention if he and the boy appeared to be close, so he himself could not go. Minerva was attending a transfiguration conference in France and something told him that Severus would not be a perfect choice.

Filius and Pomona were both in the castle preparing for the year ahead, and both owed him a favour or two. It seemed like time to call one in.

"Leave it with me Arabella, I'll have someone come through in a little while to explain the situation. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." He waved politely, and as she disappeared from his hearth, he took a pinch of floo powder, scattered it in the flames and in a steady voice called, "Professor Flitwick"


	2. Chapter two

****

Chapter two

Harry sat in stunned silence. About half an hour ago, Mrs. Figg's fireplace had flared green and a tiny little man had fallen out. This didn't fit with Harry's grasp of reality at all. Santa Claus was at least 6ft tall and did _not_ visit during the summer.

Harry entertained the idea that he was delivering a backlog of presents, but quickly pushed that aside as he fell back on something he knew for fact. Santa does not exist. Uncle Vernon had sat him down at a young age and calmly explained to him that he was a bad person, and therefore could expect a lump of coal for Christmas. He had glumly nodded and went back to his cupboard with a warning not to ruin "Dudders" Christmas. Later that week he had overheard a discussion between his Aunt and Uncle who were arguing about where to find an RC car for Dudley.

He now knew that the little mans name was Professor Flitwick and he apparently worked at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Harry tried to come up with an explanation but came up short. According to Professor Flitwick, his parents were magical and he was a wizard. It explained a lot really, all the "accidental magic" as Flitwick called it was a normal occurrence for young wizards and witches.

It also explained why Uncle Vernon would occasionally mumble '_freakishness'_ under his breath.  
The last of his doubt had been removed when Flitwick had taken out his 'wand' and lifted the couch with Harry still on it. He wasn't likely to forget that.

He also knew that the Dursleys had been lying to him for years. His mother and Father hadn't died in a car crash, they had been murdered. Flitwick looked very uncomfortable telling him about it, apparently they had been killed by a 'Dark Lord', who had then tried to kill Harry, but somehow, Harry had survived while 'you-know-who' vanished.

Flitwick had finished his explanation and was sitting quietly as Harry tried to absorb all this new information. He felt numb. His parents had been murdered and he was denied the life he should have had. It was too much to comprehend.

Harry raised his head and looked at the tiny wizard, "What now?"

"Now, Harry, I will take you to get your supplies for the year. Assuming you want to go of course?" the old professor replied gently.

Harry paused, did he really want to go? A whole new world was a scary thought, especially one where he was already well known. Stay with the Dursleys, or go with the wizard.

He finally came to his decision. Rising he faced his future teacher and said, "I don't have any money."

"Don't worry about that Harry, your parents were quite famous in their own right. You have plenty in your vault." The small professor reached into his robes and extracted a small key. He handed it to Harry, and with a smile walked over to the fireplace, took some green powder from a bowl on the mantelpiece and scattered it into the hearth.

The fireplace instantly roared to life. Flitwick beckoned Harry closer.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. Just step in and say your destination clearly, watch and follow me through," Flitwick stepped into the hearth and said, "Diagon Alley".

The fire swallowed him and Harry was left alone with Mrs. Figg, he turned and thanked her for her help before following the professor.

"Diagon Alley."

The flames enveloped him and suddenly he was spinning out of control. Other fireplaces rushed past him with a blinding green glare. He lurched to the side suddenly and started to slow, before the funnelling sensation abruptly ended and he stumbled out of a fireplace into the small form of Flitwick.

Harry straightened and looked around him. He appeared to be in some sort of dingy bar, most of the clientele were dressed even stranger than Professor Flitwick and some appeared to be less than human.

Harry was suddenly wary, why had a school professor taken him to a pub?  
The barman waved to Flitwick, before his eyes rested on Harry and widened in shock.

"Great Merlin," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this…can this be?"

All around him people started to take notice and the room grew silent.

"It's Harry-" the barman started to exclaim, but Flitwick interrupted him.

"Yes Tom, It's Harry Aldridge, remember the squib you said you had a job for?" the small wizard said with a meaningful look.

Tom caught the look, and hastily replied, "Ah yes, young Aldridge, why don't you and Filius go out the back way and I'll send out an elf with your new gear."

Now Harry was very worried, he didn't come with the professor to work in a pub. He looked at Flitwick, only to receive a discreet shake of his head in reply. Harry realised that it would have been very stupid to go spouting off his name in a packed pub. If professor Flitwick's tales were true then that could mean trouble.

Flitwick led him out the back to a small porch like area. Tom hurriedly walked out behind them and apologised.

"Sorry bout tha', didn't mean ta nearly out ya'" he said sheepishly, "Ya' missed that Quirrell fella' though, Filius. He was 'ere this morning'."

Flitwick let out a sigh, "That man is shaky enough without fire whiskey, thanks Tom".

Tom nodded and went back inside.

The professor took out his wand and opened the portal to Diagon Alley. Brick shifted to form an ornate archway, that wasn't what interested Harry though, what he was interested in, was the massive deformed street that the archway acted as a gateway to.

"Sorry about that Harry, but I thought it would be best if you weren't mobbed upon your introduction to the wizarding world." said Flitwick, corners of his lips twitching.

Harry nodded dumbly and walked forwards into the street. Buildings were shaped awkwardly, some wide single-story buildings, some narrow angular multi-story buildings and he even spotted the entrance to an underground building. He briefly wondered where they got their light, when he realised he was standing outside a store that sold Cauldrons.

It was magic.

"First thing's first Harry," the small wizard said, "we have to go to the bank to get you some gold."

"Err, right" Harry replied before following him through the throngs of shoppers.

Almost an hour later, Harry emerged from Gringotts stunned. He had just been taken to his personal vault via roller coaster by a **_Goblin_**. He had actually met a Goblin! Grabhock wasn't very polite though. Apparently, Grabby didn't like the idea of a young wizard asking him about the security measures. Harry was just curious.

Apparently he had a huge amount of gold in his little vault, he had taken a little more than the professor had suggested, just for emergencies of course.

"The most important thing a wizard has is his wand, Harry," the smaller wizard said, "I think that you've waited long enough don't you?"

"Too long," he replied with a grin. Without another word the pair headed for Ollivander's.

**_D_**

Almost an hour later, Harry had his wand. It took what seemed like a hundred tries but he finally found his match. Holly and Phoenix feather. A brother of one other wand. It made him shiver to think about that connection, it was one that he would rather have gone without.

He thanked Ollivander and followed Flitwick outside into the sunshine. The glare hit his eyes and he walked into the small form of his professor who had stopped in his tracks.

He followed the professors line of sight and found himself staring at a large crowd of people outside of Gringotts. The massive doors were shut tight and an equally massive man stood at the forefront of the crowd demanding to be let in.

"Hagrid," Flitwick gasped, before motioning for Harry to follow him and heading for the bank.

Curious to just what exactly a "Hagrid" was, Harry followed him.

"Hagrid, calm down. What's happening?" Flitwick asked.

"A break-in Filius, a bloomin' break-in, in Gringotts!" Hagrid said, "I was supposed to pick it up today Filius," the huge man lowered down, and whispered something to Flitwick, who paled dramatically.

"We have inform Albus, come Hagrid, we'll floo to The broomsticks." the little man paused and turned to Harry, a look of consternation on his face.

Just then, a tall man dressed in robes approached, "Ah, Filius, you aren't having trouble are you?"

Flitwick looked to the man and relaxed, "Kaj, it's good to see you, I'm in a bit of a fix. Is Purnima with you?"

"Yes, we are here for the girls supplies. They are starting this year. Is there anything I can help with?" Kaj replied.

"Yes, I have to go to Hogwarts to inform Albus, but I can't leave young Harry. Would you mind staying with him while I go to Hogsmeade?"

The Indian man looked at Harry and grinned, "How could I pass up the opportunity Filius?" he replied jokingly, " you go on ahead, I'll meet you at the Cauldron when you return."

Flitwick smiled and turned to Harry, "He's a good man Harry, I'll be back shortly." with that, he and Hagrid rushed down the street to the Cauldron.

Harry turned to look at the man, he was tall and held himself with an  
almost royal sense of dignity.

"I'm Kaj Patil, nice to meet you," the man offered.

"Harry Potter, likewise. You seem to know Professor Flitwick very well."  
Harry said. No matter how he tried he couldn't read the man.

Mr. Patil smiled, "Once upon a time I was Filius' apprentice. Now, Purnima and the girls are at Madam Malkins. How about we go there and get you some robes?"

"Sounds good. Sir? Professor Flitwick said it was impossible to rob Gringotts?"

Mr. Patil's face darkened for a moment, "It is supposed to be an impossible task, but that theory has been proven wrong today. Much more than gold is hidden in those vaults Harry."

Wondering what else, could anyone want to brave dragons for, Harry followed Mr. Patil down the street.

Madam Malkins was a rather large shop, full of frills and lace. Harry felt more than a little uncomfortable. Mr. Patil led him to the back of the shop where a large woman was bustling about gathering material.

"There you are Kaj, what's happening outside?", a small woman came out of nowhere and spotted him, "And who is this young man?," she asked.

Mr. Patil smiled, "Harry this is my wife Purnima. Purnima this is Harry Potter."

Mrs. Patil stopped in her tracks and looked dumbly at him, before throwing a mildly humoured look at her husband.

"You disappear for two minutes, and you come back with Harry Potter?" she threw a smile at Harry which he returned. "Now Kaj, what is going on outside, and why are you with a national hero?"

Harry winced at the 'national hero' part, but kept his composure.

"Purnima," Mr. Patil said quietly, "There is trouble at Gringotts, there has been a robbery. Harry here, was with Filius, who had to inform Dumbledore. I agreed to look after him until he returned."

"A robbery? In Gringotts?" Mrs Patil said, shocked.

"Yes, now how about we introduce Harry to the girls and get him fitted for his robes. Padma, Parvati." he called.

Two identical girls came around the corner and smiled at their father. They were dressed in identical robes that made Harry feel very underdressed in his baggy jeans and t-shirt.

"Girls, this is Harry. Harry the one on the right is Padma and the one on the left is Parvati." Mr Patil said.

"Hi Harry," said Parvati with a cheerful smile.

"Hello," said Padma with an equally bright expression.

Harry started to reply but was cut off when a strong arm tugged him over to the wall.

"Hold on dear, I'll just get you sorted now."

Harry heard the girls laugh as Madam Malkin pulled a robe over his head. After a few minutes of the 'pincushion game where Harry was poked and prodded, his robes were finally ready. He walked over to the counter and paid before walking over to the waiting Patils who already had their robes. He checked his booklist and headed to Flourish and Blott's.

Almost an hour later, all his supplies safely in his new trunk, Harry stood inside Eeylops Owl emporium waiting for the girls to get their Owl.

While he was waiting, Harry looked around for an Owl of his own. Apparently they were the main method of communication in the wizarding world, and it would be nice to have some company at the Dursleys.

In a cage above the counter, Harry spotted one. A large dark grey Owl with a black beak.

Fifteen minutes later the group came out with two large cages. Harry had bought his Owl, he now knew that it was a greater sooty Owl. It was rare, all the way from Indonesia in fact, but it was worth the price. Joe the Owl hooted happily at him from his cage and Harry smiled.

Padma and Parvati had bought a large Snowy Owl called Athena. They were grinning happily at it while it dozed.

"Harry!," He heard the shout and turned to see Professor Flitwick hurrying down the street to meet him. "Sorry about that, I had to tell Dumbledore. Did you get all your supplies?" the little professor asked cheerfully.

"Yes, Mr. And Mrs. Patil were very kind." Harry replied.  
Flitwick shot them a thankful grin, and just like that Harry was saying his goodbyes with promises to meet on the train.

"Did you have a good time today Harry?" Flitwick asked kindly as they stepped out of the floo and into Mrs. Figg's house.

"It was one of the best days of my life sir," Harry replied honestly. Despite all that happened, Harry still couldn't quite believe it was real.

Flitwick smiled, "I hope to see you in Ravenclaw Harry," he said before taking a step back, wishing him luck and disappearing with a sharp crack.

Harry stepped outside and looked across the road. Sighing, he made his way back to the Dursley's, eagerly awaiting the first of September.


	3. Chapter three

**Chapter three**

Harry lay awake in new room. The Dursleys were furious when they learned that Harry had found out about his family's past. They were scared when they realised that Harry now knew he was a wizard.

He was enjoying his newfound advantage over the Dursleys. He would never forget the look of terror on uncle Vernon's face the day after Diagon Alley.

While in the Alley, Harry had taken the chance to buy a few books in Flourish and Blott's. He had found one on a game called 'Quidditch', as well as one on Hogwarts itself and several others on basic charms and transfiguration. He was reading all his first year books in an attempt to gain what little knowledge he could without instruction. Most of the people in Hogwarts grew up in the wizarding world, so Harry knew that he was already at a major disadvantage.

He had also stashed all his supplies in his cupboard, he didn't want the Dursleys to find out just yet. Joe hadn't been too happy, but he was a smart Owl and he kept quiet enough throughout the night.

The day of the 'incident' the Dursleys had gone into town for some shopping. Dudley had demanded to go, as a trip to the shops most often ended with him receiving several pounds of sweets. Harry had heard the Dursleys leave, picked up his charms book from the cupboard and headed for the kitchen. He had spent several hours reading up on basic charms when he found that he couldn't stand it anymore. He retrieved his now precious wand and a pen lid that was lying discarded on the table. Placing it on the table before him he aimed his wand and intoned, "_Wingardium Leviosa._"

The lid vibrated and started to glow. Curious, Harry leaned in closer to inspect, when it suddenly sprang from the table and embedded itself into a nearby wall.

"Shit!" swore Harry, before running to the wall to inspect the damage. He pulled the lid from the wall and deftly manoeuvred a nearby picture to cover the indent.

His sensible half was telling him that he should quit while he was behind, and not do anything to further increase the Dursley's ire.

The half that he currently wanted to listen to, was telling him to try again. Harry grinned and placed the lid back on the table.

Reading the instructions again, he quickly deduced that he had flicked too hard. The book said that it wasn't power that determined the effectiveness of charms or other more 'polished' forms of magic, but rather the skill in which the caster performed them with.

Harry aimed his wand and focused solely on the lid. Blocking everything else out, he intoned the incantation while producing a solid swish with a minute flick at the end. The lid shuddered and slowly lifted itself from the table, after rising several inches, the spell broke and it fell back to earth.

'Strange,' Harry had thought, 'A dropping lid shouldn't sound like a dropped grocery…oh bugger.'

Harry turned around expecting to see a furious Uncle and a terrified Aunt. He was surprised when he realised that his Aunt was the furious one. His uncle looked like he had walked into an axe murderers convention. Dudley just looked confused.

"_Big surprise there_," Harry thought.

"Where did you get _that?" _spat his Aunt, pointing at his wand.

"Well, a midget took me through an old lady's fireplace into a magical pub where apparently, I'm a superstar. I had a big adventure that included goblins, giants and a roller coaster underneath the streets of London. I found out that my whole family were wizards and witches and that they were murdered." As an afterthought, Harry said, "Oh, and I bought this in a shop."

Petunia grew paler with each passing second.

"So, you know then?" She asked uncertainly.

"Know what? That the reason you treated me like a dog for years is because you were jealous of my mother?" Harry fingered his wand, "You know, I can do a lot more magic than this. I can make your lives a living hell. What would your neighbours think if they saw your car floating onto the roof?" Harry was now unashamedly bluffing and by the look of sudden apprehension on Vernon and Petunia's faces, it was working. He took a risk and pushed the advantage while he had it. "All I ask, is that you let me use the spare bedroom and give me a lift to Kings Cross. Do that and I'll be gone until the summer."

If Vernon realised that Harry was bluffing, well…that could turn out bad.

Harry could almost see the gears turning in his Uncle's head. Give up a barely used room and get rid of the boy for a year or keep him in the cupboard and risk him ruining his reputation by getting expelled from Stonewall.

"Fine, fine but you put…that…that _thing_ away and you clean the room yourself." His Uncle grunted.

Harry nodded and with one last frigid stare from his Aunt, left to tidy his new room. The last thing he heard that evening was Dudley whining about how he needed the storage space.

Now, almost a month later, Harry lay in his bed awake. Tomorrow, he would be departing for Hogwarts. 'Hogwarts a History' was an enlightening book, but he found that if he read too much of it at any one time he tended to doze. Idly wondering what house he would be in, he didn't even notice as sleep took him.

_**D**_

The next morning Harry awoke early. Too early. Fearful that his Uncle would try everything he could to make Harry late, he double-checked everything before taking a shower and dragging his trunk downstairs. An hour later, he was in the car with three grumbling Dursleys, at least they were grumbling until Harry told them what platform the train was located on. He didn't miss his Uncle's smile of glee when he heard 'Platform nine and three quarters'. Professor Flitwick had told him how to find his way onto the platform so he wasn't too worried.

When they reached Kings Cross, his uncle, in an uncharacteristic display of kindness, loaded a trolley with Harry's stuff and walked it to the platform with him. When they reached the barrier separating platforms nine and ten, his uncle stopped the trolley and with a maniacal grin on his face said, "Well, Harry, here's your stop." before turning to walk off.

Harry smirked and cheerily replied, "Thanks for the help uncle Vernon, see you next summer!" Before leaving the speechless man behind as he ran straight through the wall.

Harry emerged on the other side of the wall at platform nine and three quarters. Momentarily shocked at the site of an ancient looking scarlet steam engine, he recovered quickly and walked towards the train. The station was packed with families, all saying goodbye to their children. It was a cacophony of screeching Owls and mewling cats, Harry even heard the harsh croak of the odd toad. Joe woke up in his cage and looked around blearily before deciding that it wasn't worth it and promptly tucked his head back underneath his wing.

Harry laughed quietly and boarded the train, looking for an empty compartment, many were full already, but Harry pressed on until he found one near the back of the train. He put Joe in first before trying - and failing - to stow away his trunk. It landed hard on his foot.

Uttering a mild curse, he turned around to see a smirking Padma Patil in the doorway.

"You know, pride will get you nowhere Harry, would you like a hand?" she asked.

Harry smiled, "Thanks Padma." Between the two of them they got his trunk up. "Where's Parvati?" he asked.

"Still saying goodbye to mum and dad. Mind if we sit with you?" she replied.

"Not at all, it's good to see a friendly face," he replied. Harry helped her stow away their stuff and sat down, "So, what house do you want to be in?" he asked.

"Ravenclaw. Dad told me that they have their own little library, that would be so cool!" seeing Harry's smile, and realising that she was gushing, she deftly changed the subject. "You know, Parvati hasn't shut up about you since the alley. One would almost think that she liked you."

This time it was Padma's turn to smile as Harry suddenly started to look very uncomfortable. Her smile widened when Parvati burst into the compartment, talking about how good it was to see him again. Harry seemed to shrink into the seat as he tried to escape her attentions. In a rare act of mercy and compassion, Padma said, "Parvati, tell me about the new dress you bought." Parvati turned around and stared at Padma for a second confusedly, before flashing a triumphant smile.

"I just knew that one day you would see the light, dear sister," she said in an overly dramatical voice, before launching into a discussion about fabric of some sort.

Padma shot Harry a long-suffering look mixed with a dash of 'you owe me one'.

Harry mouthed a thank you before retrieving a book from his trunk and settling in.

Almost an ten minutes later, Parvati was finally winding down, just in time for the door to slide open revealing a slightly chubby lady wheeling a cart.

"Anything off the trolley dears?"

Harry reached into his pocket and brought out a few galleons. He chose a selection of odd looking sweets and a wizarding newspaper. Padma and Parvati bought some sweets of their own and sat back down.

Harry took a look at the paper. 'The daily prophet' was an assortment of strangely arranged articles, some would loop in and out of others while some just disappeared. On the papers front page was a very angry looking Goblin arguing with a wizarding journalist. This brought back a question he had meant to ask the twins when he saw them again.

"Remember when we were in the alley? What happened at Gringotts? I mean, I know it was robbed but isn't that supposed to be impossible?" he asked.

Padma shared a look with Parvati, "It's supposed to be yes, but someone managed it. The country's been in uproar over it. People have started to withdraw their savings in search of a 'safer' option. They're completely forgetting that in the hundreds of years that Gringotts has been in existence, there has never once been a successful robbery until now. Dad says it's getting quite heated between the ministry and the Goblins. He's concerned that another war could start over this."

'_War? What type of world have I gotten myself into_?' Harry thought.

Seeing his concerned look Padma tried to reassure him, "Don't worry, there have been hundreds of Goblin wars, if it does happen it wont last long."

If anything, this made Harry warier and it showed.

"My sister, brilliant with books, but socially retarded." Parvati said, only to end up wincing as Padma's elbow jabbed itself into her ribs.

Harry smiled at their antics, Parvati could be a bit…airy, but they were nice enough.

In the past month Harry had discovered a whole new world, one that he himself was part of. He had already made friends, and now he was on a steam engine speeding through the countryside on his way to a magic school. It was surreal, relieving, exciting and nerve-racking. He tried to appear calm about it, but inwardly Harry was terrified. The prospect that he wouldn't be picked for a house and sent home terrified him. Could he really return to live with the Dursleys after all this? Professor Flitwick had helped him and eased most of his fears, but Harry still felt as though he had something to prove.

He was broken out of his thought's when the compartment door slid open to reveal a small blonde haired boy, with a haughty air, flanked by two not entirely human looking friends.

"Are you him then? Father says that Harry Potter is starting this year and I've searched through every other compartment. You look enough like a Potter." he said in a slightly supercilious tone.

"Yeah, I'm Harry, and you would be who exactly?"

The blonde boy seemed to pale slightly, which was an accomplishment in itself, before replying, "Draco Malfoy," he waved carelessly behind him, "these two are Crabbe and Goyle. So, do you know what house you'll be in?" He asked.

Harry glanced over at the twins. Parvati was frowning in Draco's direction while Padma was looking at him with open distaste.

"I don't really know, they all seem to be okay," he replied.

Malfoy smirked, _"_Even Hufflepuff? Wouldn't you leave if you were sorted there?" he asked, as if telling a well known joke. "I'm going to be a Slytherin, it runs in the family." He said proudly_._

Malfoy extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, Harry."

He looked at Malfoy's extended hand and took it, "It's always good to meet new people Draco, I'll see you around school."

Malfoy nodded to the girls and left the compartment.

Harry turned to the girls, "What was with the evil eye? He seems a bit pompous, but he wasn't that bad."

"I got a bad vibe off him," Parvati retorted defensively.

"Dad says bad things about the Malfoys," Padma said, "He said that they were a disgrace to the name of pureblood."

During the summer, Harry had read up on the blood separation in the magical world. He had found out that he was classed as a 'half-blood'. Apparently Voldemort's main policy was keeping the pure bloods pure and enslaving the muggle world. Harry agreed that the close knit world of magic needed to be widened a little, but muggles were just too different.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts when Parvati started talking to him.

"So…do you remember _it_ at all? You know…_that_ night?" she asked nervously.

Harry swore he heard Padma whisper something about '_social retards' _.

"I remember a lot of green light, but that's about it." he replied in a quiet voice.

Sensing the mood taking a swing for the worse, Parvati wisely let it be. The conversation eventually wound down and Harry found himself starting to drift off.

Harry awoke a good while later, it was growing dark outside. He looked around the compartment, Padma was asleep with her head against the window and a book lying on the floor at her feet. Parvati wasn't in the compartment. He picked up the book and placed it on the seat as the door opened and Parvati walked in.

"Hogwarts is coming up soon, we need to change into our robes." she said.

Harry nodded and pulled his robes out of his trunk and over his head, Parvati woke Padma who looked vaguely embarrassed at being caught sleeping, and they soon changed.

After a few minutes, the train started to slow and eventually it came to a shuddering halt. Stepping onto the small platform, Harry looked around. A large horde of older students were already walking to the front of the platform, just then he heard an oddly familiar voice that he couldn't place.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

A giant head that Harry recognised was illuminated by a hanging lamp. It was the man Professor Flitwick had known in the alley, Harry remembered that his name was 'Hagrid'.

He led the group of shivering first years down to a small dock with a number of boats tethered to it. Parvati was mumbling something unintelligible about her hair. Nobody else spoke much. They chose a small boat and sat down with a small mousey haired boy that was gripping onto a toad for dear life.

As one, all the boats started to move, drifting silently into the blackness of the lake. Once or twice, Harry was sure he saw a tentacle skimming the waters surface.

After a few minutes, the boats rounded a small outcrop, and just like that, everything clicked. Harry was home. Hogwarts sat majestically perched atop a cliff overlooking the lake, its spires rising into the night sky while its windows twinkled with a ghostly light.

The boats headed straight for the cliff, and in a matter of minutes, they were sailing into a small cavern underneath the castle.

Harry, the mousey boy and the girls disembarked and joined the crowd gathered at the stairs. At a signal from Hagrid they moved together up the endless flights of stairs and into the bowels of Hogwarts.

_**D**_

"_Another Potter eh, where should I put you?"_

Harry remained silent.

"_Plenty of courage, loyalty, intelligence and ambition. Yes plenty of ambition, enough to have any normal student on their way to the Slytherin table. But you're not a normal student, are you Harry? It has been over fifty years since I have seen such a thirst for knowledge. He requested a house, one that I admit suited him well. _

After almost a minute of silence from the hat, it finally said something. _"Only one house will allow you to reach your full potential Harry…_**RAVENCLAW" **the hat shouted.

The Ravenclaw table erupted in a deafening roar as Harry stepped off the stool and made his way towards his new house table.

He sat down beside a slightly sullen looking Padma. Parvati had been sorted into Gryffindor and she was still getting used to the fact that she would be seeing her twin much less from now on. She congratulated him as he sat down.

Weasley and Zabini were sorted into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively and the Headmaster stood. After a short speech proclaiming the harsh punishments for venturing into the forest and several other rules, he clapped his hands and food magically appeared on each plate in the hall.

Roast beef, stake, potatoes, gravy and every other possible food appeared on the plates in front of him. Padma looked on, clearly amused, as Harry piled food onto his plate. After a few minutes, the initial clamour had settled down, and Harry paused to take a look around him. Ravenclaw had received eleven new students including himself. Right across from him sat a small boy with brown hair. Flanked by two much older looking students, he looked slightly scared.

Harry was about to catch his eye when suddenly a spectral form rose from the centre of the table. Harry bolted back in his seat while Padma burst out laughing.

"For goodness sakes it's just a ghost Harry" she said.

Harry glanced at the ghost in question who seemed to be smiling at him.

"Ghosts are real?" he asked incredulously.

"Honestly Harry, after all you have discovered, are you really that surprised?"

Feeling rather stupid, he muttered a hello to the ghost and went back to his food.

Full up and feeling sleepy, he scanned the staff table. Professor Flitwick was grinning broadly at him, while the raven haired professor McGonagall looked disappointed.

The biggest shock was the headmaster though. Instead of the bright jovial person that had been described to him, he looked weary and dejected.

He continued to scan the staff table, stopping to look at a hook nosed professor dressed in black, when his forehead burst open with pain. He barely kept from screaming out as he slumped into his seat. Padma was saying something to him, People were staring at him. Just as soon as it began, the pain receded and his vision cleared.

The people around him looked worried, Padma especially, but he straightened and assured them he was fine. Nobody else seemed to have noticed.

"Having a stroke in the middle of dinner is not fine Harry" Padma observed quietly.

"It was him" Harry replied quietly while pointing in the hooked-nosed man's direction, "He did something."

Padma looked up at the staff table. The professor seemed to be having a conversation with an odd looking man with a turban. She nudged an older student in the ribs, "Excuse me, who are the Professors at the end of the table?" she asked sweetly.

The older student seemed perturbed, " The one with the turban is Professor Quirrell, and the greasy one with the sneer is Snape."

Not missing the lack of an honorific, Padma shot Harry a meaningful look.

"Don't worry about it, maybe it was just a headache or something." he said. He knew Padma wasn't fooled, but he was glad when she let it go.

All too soon, the food was gone and Harry and Padma were following a prefect to the Ravenclaw common room. Padma was talking quietly with a small Asian girl called Su. The group stopped in front of a plain stone wall. A dead end.

"First years" announced the tall girl at the front of the group. "I'm Penelope Clearwater and this is Thomas Hamilton. We are the fifth year Ravenclaw prefects." She announced proudly. "This is the entrance to your new home, the password will be changed weekly, the password for this week is 'Athena'. Harry perked up at this, Athena was the name of Padma's Owl, he idly wondered what happened to Joe.

The wall behind Penelope shifted and morphed into a grand marble staircase and the small group ascended. He emerged in his new favourite room. The Ravenclaw common room was a large circular room with around a dozen little alcoves built into the walls. Plush blue and bronze couches and armchairs were placed haphazardly around the floor. In the centre of the room was a massive circular cast iron stove, its chimney rising through the common room ceiling and extending to the roof of Ravenclaw tower. The walls were lined with bookcases of every shape and size.

Harry was stunned.

"This is the Ravenclaw common room. The bookshelves are linked to the library but you have to answer a question to withdraw the one you want. After a period of three hours the books are enchanted to return to the library themselves, so you will have to check them out again. The staircase to the boys dorms is on the right and the girls on the left. First year dorms on the first floor. Breakfast is at eight and classes start at nine. Tomorrow is a Sunday so you can sleep in. Goodnight."

Completely exhausted and overawed, Harry said goodbye to Padma and Su, and headed to his dormitory where he found his trunk waiting for him. Ignoring the whispers of the boys that followed him up the stairs, Harry drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter four

A/N: Thanks for all the positive reviews they really do help. Also, thanks to my beta Oz who probably has better things to be doing.

****

Chapter four

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry sighed and sat down in his favourite armchair.

The last month had not gone well for him. His former mentor had entrusted him with an object of devastating power, an object that many would kill or torture to procure. The fountain of youth. The Philosophers stone. He had had it placed in a special vault in the most secure bank in the world and it was still stolen.

The very day he was going to have it transferred to an even safer place, one that he himself could watch over, somebody had broken in and achieved the impossible. A successful Gringotts robbery.

There was only one person who possessed the daring, and who had the requisite skills to triumph where so many had failed. Tom Riddle, the dark lord Voldemort.

Albus knew that he was still out there, clinging to the mortal coil somehow, biding his time in the shadows**, **waiting for a chance to return. He had hoped for more time. Just that evening, the child of the prophecy had been sorted. There was no way a child of eleven could comprehend the responsibility that had been set on his shoulders. It was up to him to buy Harry all the time he could**.**

What worried him most of all was the blatant lack of warning. There had been no signs to speak of, nothing to indicate that evil was stirring. If anything, in the past few months dark creature activity had actually decreased. During the rise of both Voldemort and Grindelwald the darkness seemed to stir. Signs had been there if one knew where to look, but now…nothing.

Nicholas had known something though, the fact that he was worried about the safety of the stone had proven that. More than six hundred years of life would give any man the ability to sense when times are changing.

Somehow, without anyone noticing, Voldemort had moved his first piece.

Albus was broken out of his thoughts when a small flame burst into life on his desk. The flame dissipated and a small scrap of parchment was left.

"All may not be lost."

Albus Dumbledore decided it was time for him to make his own move.

**_D_**

Quirenius Quirrell sat before the fireplace of his rooms. He stared vacantly into the flames for what seemed like the thousandth time as the parasite he was carrying slowly suppressed his mind and took control.

Lord Voldemort sat before the fireplace of his rooms. He was confident that Dumbledore suspected nothing. It was irksome that he had to bury himself in the mind of this wretched host whenever Dumbledore was near.

He could feel himself growing stronger by the day. The elixir of life was a truly wonderful thing. With it he could now completely possess Quirrell. He smiled as an insane rage washed over him. He had been so sure that it would work. The stone was supposed to restore his body, restore the visage of the greatest dark lord in history. It was flawed. It would indeed grant him a body but not the one he wished. Through trial and error, he had come to the conclusion that the stone regenerated body and soul. His soul was far too fractured for it to work, it would at best deliver him a crippled and deformed body. Nothing more than a wraith.

Suppressing a flare of magic that rode his rage like a wave, he cleared his mind. All was not lost. His magic was stronger now, there were several different ways he could regain a body. All extraordinarily difficult but manageable nonetheless. And of course the most interesting event of the evening. Potter.

The boy that had caused his downfall could sense him. He was amused when he realised that the boy blamed Severus, he did seem the type. The boy had power, that much was clear. Enough to trouble him? Not yet. There was a darkness in the boy, he could prove to be a valuable ally in the future.

He could afford to bide his time. He would eventually remove the Diadem, looking back, it had been folly to hide it in a school full of curious students. He could not take that chance with a part of his soul.

A whole generation of potential followers were ripe for the picking. This time, he would do it right. This time, he would win.

'No' he mused, **'**all is not lost.'

**_D_**

Harry made his way through the winding corridors of Hogwarts, intent on finding his way to the great hall. The other boys in the dorm hadn't woken yet and Padma was nowhere to be seen. Eager to see more of the castle, he had departed for breakfast.

Twenty minutes and a few wrong turns later, Harry emerged at the top of the staircase leading to the entrance hall. Dodging a sneering old man in a filthy brown coat who he assumed was the caretaker, he made it into the great hall. It was early on a Sunday morning, most of the students had taken this time to sleep in. With the exception of some of the staff and a few other first and second years from different houses, Harry was alone.

He sat down and helped himself to a bacon sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice. After a few minutes he was distracted from his breakfast when someone sat down opposite him. The someone in question was a girl with medium length brown hair and clear blue eyes.

"Hi, I'm Lisa Turpin." She said brightly.

"Harry Potter, nice to meet you." he responded.

She leaned forward conspiratorially "So…is it true that you're Dumbledore's apprentice?" she whispered**.**

Harry choked on his pumpkin juice, "What? Where did you hear that? I've never even met the man."

"Oh, I heard it on the train yesterday. Some red haired boy was telling everyone that you're set to be the next Dumbledore so it's only natural that you are his apprentice. Now that I think of it, he did seem to be rambling. He was telling everyone that he has a signed poster of you."

"Poster?" Exclaimed Harry.

"Yeah, I saw one in Diagon Alley a while back, it didn't look anything like you though. My Aunt says that the ministry were trying to get rid of them."

Filing away that piece of information, Harry continued the conversation. "So, did you get the house you wanted?"

Lisa lit up, "Yeah, I've always wanted to be a Ravenclaw. What about you? I know it must be irritating but it's almost surreal to be in the same year and house as the boy who lived."

Harry grimaced, he was getting used to the whole fame business but it still surprised him from time to time. "I really didn't mind, I'm happy with Ravenclaw, we have a nice head of house and apart from Gryffindor, it's the only house that has someone I know in it."

This time it was Lisa's turn to grimace. "Yeah, about that, we kind of kept Padma up most of last night, we were curious and she was the only person we knew who had actually talked to you. Don't expect her to be in a brilliant mood this morning."

Harry wasn't too concerned, having dealt with Aunt Petunia in the morning he was pretty sure he could manage.

Harry sat talking to Lisa for a while longer, she was amusing enough and was nice company. He was broken away from his little chat when a tired looking Padma sat down beside him, she was accompanied by the same nervous looking boy that Harry had tried to talk to before the Grey lady interrupted him.

"Morning Padma," said Harry before turning his attention to the boy before him. "I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you."

The unnamed boy looked up, "Kevin Entwhistle, I got lost looking for the hall, Padma found me," he said sheepishly.

Harry grinned, "Took me a while too, I was going to take a look around the castle later, any of you interested?"

Lisa and Kevin agreed enthusiastically while Padma muttered her agreement while reaching for a cup of tea.

"She," Padma said while glaring good naturedly at Lisa, "kept me up most of the night talking about the legend of the great Harry Potter. Tell me Lisa, does he measure up?"

Harry had to give it to her, Padma had the beginnings of a very nasty streak.

Harry awoke groggily on Monday morning. Excited about his first day of classes, he quickly got dressed before crossing the dorm to shake Kevin awake.

"Breakfast mate, we're getting our timetables this morning."

Yesterday had been an opportunity for him to get to know Kevin and Lisa a bit better. They spent the better part of the day memorizing the quickest route from the tower to the great hall and lounging around the grounds. Kevin, while somewhat shy and quiet, had proved to be anything but a starry eyed fan. He had asked a few questions as most people had but for a change, he seemed satisfied with Harry's answers, or rather, lack of them.

Lisa was in one word, energetic. She and Padma had become fast friends. They had talked about clothes and giggled as girls that age were prone to, but it didn't fool Harry. However childish they acted, they were Ravenclaws for a reason. A point they had proven several times the day before.

The great hall was busier than the day before. Most of the student population were sitting at their respective tables chatting, eating or reading a paper. Harry and Kevin spotted the girls and made their way over to sit down.

"Morning Padma, Lisa." Harry greeted. Kevin sat down and mumbled another round of 'morning'.

After some light conversation and breakfast, Professor Flitwick reached them and with a small smile in Harry's direction and a general hello to the others, gave out their timetables. Finishing off their breakfasts, Harry and his friends left for their first day of Hogwarts education.

**_D_**

The first week of classes flew by in a haze of homework and magic. The only subject that Harry didn't look forward to was Potions. After his first class with Snape, it had become clear that the man had some sort of grudge against him. Charms and Transfiguration were easily his best subjects, even the strict Professor McGonagall was impressed with his progress.

Harry proved to have an aptitude at flying, Madam Hooch had already recommended him to Roger Davies for next years Quidditch team.

Defence was somewhat of a let-down, instead of practising the basic spells that first years were supposed to learn, Quirrell would tell them stories of famous dark wizards and how they met their ends. He hadn't broached the topic of Voldemort yet but with the way he occasionally glanced at him, Harry could tell that he was just as interested as the boys in his dorm that were constantly asking him about it.

Without proper defence lessons, Harry, Padma, Lisa and Kevin had taken to using abandoned classrooms to practise their spell casting. It was more fun to Harry than work, the four would take turns trying to hit each other with various hexes from the defence section of the library. Even though Harry considered it fun, he noticed the more he cast a certain spell, the more efficient it would be.

Overall, things were going well until their first Charms class. The Levitation charm was ridiculously simple, Harry had mastered the feather on his first go. Professor Flitwick had shot him an approving smile and passed him a small book to practise with. Padma and Lisa had both successfully cast the spell and were tickling each other with stray feathers. Kevin was a different story. While he excelled in Transfiguration, Charms was becoming a big problem for him.

Harry watched him from the corner of his eye. Finally Kevin grew agitated and shouted '_Wingardium Leviosa_' while waving his wand wildly. The feather shuddered and slowly lifted off the desk…before bursting into flames and rocketing into Su Li's hair. The usually polite girl screamed and started beating at her hair while the class looked on, torn between shock and laughter.

Flitwick hurried over to her and doused her head with a quick '_Aguamenti_'. Soaking and furious, Su slowly turned her gaze towards Kevin who swallowed nervously.

"Su, I'm s…"

Before Kevin could even finish his sentence, Su whipped out her wand, "_Rictusempra!_" she roared. The dull blue light of the tickling charm hit Kevin square in the face knocking him from his chair.

Su, looking somewhat satisfied, turned around and stalked back to her desk leaving Kevin roaring in laughter on the floor as he tried to escape the invisible hands that were tickling him. Harry struggled to hold back in laughter and frowned as he noticed Michael Corner give Kevin a disgusted look before muttering something apparently amusing to Terry Boot.

He cast a quick 'finite' on Kevin while Flitwick was busy collecting points from Su and helped the boy up.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I deserved it, Morgana Harry, I set her hair on fire." Kevin muttered dejectedly.

"Well, yeah, but in fairness she was a bit hot headed."

Kevin looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow, "That was possibly the worst pun I have ever heard, seriously Harry…that was terrible."

"It worked didn't it?" Harry managed to get out before they both collapsed in laughter.

Harry turned the corner that led to the Ravenclaw common room, muttering the password he ascended the stairs. After dinner he had taken a trip to the library. He had been recommended a book called "Voyages with Vampires", as a work of fiction it was terrible, as an autobiography…it was worse. Never again would he read a book recommended to him by Padma Patil, he had a sneaking suspicion that she had set him up.

He entered the dormitory to find Kevin backed up against his bed with Michael Corner, Terry Boot and Stephen Cornfoot in a semicircle around him. Harry rolled his eyes.

"What are you idiots doing?" he asked.

Michael turned and eyed him warily, "Potter, we were just having a little chat with Kevin."

"May I ask what about?"

"Come off it Harry, you were in Charms today, you saw it. He's an embarrassment to Ravenclaw. We were just enquiring as to how he didn't end up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff."

"Hold on, what? Michael you were the one who couldn't turn his match into a needle in Transfiguration. Who are you to decide who is or isn't an embarrassment? And what are you two fools doing surrounding him? Going to cripple him with tickling charms?" Harry asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Shut up Harry, you aren't that great yourself. You're good enough but not what everyone was expecting. I bet it was Dumbledore who killed you-know who. He probably didn't want any more fame, my dad says that's why he wouldn't be minister." Michael replied smugly.

"You shut up Corner," surprisingly it was Kevin who spoke up. "You're just jealous because your dad couldn't do it. 'Master Auror Corner' couldn't do a thing."

Michael turned red and aimed his wand at Kevin but Harry was too quick for him, "_Furnunculus_", he growled. The pale orange light erupted from Harry's wand and hit Michael in the chest causing him to curse and drop his wand. Terry and Stephen just looked on quietly.

He calmly walked up to Michael who was on his knees groping his chest as boils erupted and moved outwards from the source of impact. "I don't like bullies Michael, apologise to Kevin and I won't hex you again, deal?"

Michael looked up pleadingly but seeing only an impassive face he turned to Kevin, "Sorry, won't happen again." He said before running out of the dorm, presumably to find someone who could lift the hex.

Terry and Stephen muttered their apologies looking vaguely embarrassed, before heading to their four-posters and drawing the curtains.

"You okay Kevin?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the help there mate."

"No problem, see you in the morning, we've got a flying lesson and I've got a Padma to kill."

Harry went to bed, not noticing Kevin's confused and slightly awed look.


	5. Chapter five

A/N: Massive thanks to my beta Neisseria for the help. Check out her story, Rustlings in the dark. If you're going to read a fic (besides this one) today, read that.

**Chapter five**

"Mr. P-Potter, would you care to stay behind for a moment?" asked Professor Quirrell.

Harry turned to see Padma shrug and wave a goodbye as the rest of the students proceeded out of the classroom. He brought his bag to his shoulder and walked towards Quirrell's desk. He caught a faint whiff of garlic as the Professor placed several ancient looking books into their proper places on the bookshelf.

Standing awkwardly, Harry asked, "Of course, sir; what do you want?"

"As-as you know, we have just f-finished the summary of Grindlewald's r-reign of terror and we are to proceed onto the next topic. How m-much do you know of H-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Harry froze. On some level he knew this was coming, but to have it laid out before him like this knocked him off guard.

"He was a dark wizard who murdered my parents and tried to kill me. He failed."

Quirrell winced slightly at Harry's blunt tone. "Yes, but do you know why he came after your family on that night? While the Potter name carried some weight, they still weren't all that well known. So why then would the Dark Lord choose to attack them?"

Harry stood there, stunned. He had never questioned; he had never wondered why Voldemort would attack an infant. "I don't know, Professor. Nobody does as far as I can tell."

"On the contrary, Mr. Potter; everyone knows, or at least they think they do. Everybody has their own secret little theory about what happened that night. Most are just nonsense but others have merit."

Harry shuffled his feet nervously. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. "What do you mean?"

"There are many theories about what happened that night Harry. You would do well to remember that history is written by the victors. The dead never have much input. The reason I'm telling you this, Harry, is because I see great potential in you, as do a great many others I might add."

"Sir, what do you mean when you say there are other versions of what happened that night? I've only ever heard one."

"Yes, the Ministry approved version is the most popular. People like to think that they're safe and well, it scares them to think that a part of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might still live somewhere out there. Headmaster Dumbledore believes that he is still out there somewhere, waiting. So you see, two of the most powerful icons in wizarding Britain believe in two different versions. "Why, some people even believe that He Who Must Not Be Named did not intend to kill you and your family; some say that you were to be his equal and it was Sirius Black who caused all the unpleasantness that occurred that night." At Harry's disbelieving look, Quirrell gave a wry smile. "Ludicrous, I know, but no one really knows what happened that night."

Harry stared at his Professor. "And what do you believe, Sir?"

"I believe that we don't know all the facts. I was abroad at the time He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rose to power so I never experienced it first-hand. I will, however, say that many believed him to be a revolutionary. Many believed him to be the light that would lead the wizarding world into brighter times."

"Of course for every wizard and witch who believes that, there are ten who will swear he was evil incarnate. Either way he was a threat to the way things were and most people didn't approve of that. There is no doubt that he used chaos to help achieve his goals. I myself knew many people who are dead because of him."

Harry readjusted his feet awkwardly. A dull ache was beginning to form in his shoulders where his bag was resting. "Why are you telling me this Professor?"

"I am a firm believer that knowledge of the attack is the greatest form of defence. To that end, I'm giving you a project worth a maximum of fifty house points." Seeing Harry's interest peaked, Quirrell sat back and adjusted his turban. "I want you to create your own theory about what happened that night. It will involve heavy research, but if you want to prepare yourself for the storm that will come if he returns, then I think it is worth the effort."

"Feel free to say no, Mr. Potter; I can understand your reluctance."

Harry felt a strange mix of emotions. He was slightly angry at Quirrell for bringing the subject up in the first place, but after hearing the Professor speak all he felt was confusion. A lot of what he had said had made sense and if he was honest with himself, it scared him. He took a breath hand made his decision. "I'll do it. Are there any guidelines?"

Quirrell grinned. "Not many, Mr. Potter. You can choose to present it any way you want as long as you explain how you drew your conclusions. It must be kept secret though; if other students were to learn that I was offering you this chance, they would cry favouritism. You may ask one person and one person only to help you and it must be someone you trust. Do you understand?" At Harry's nod he continued, "I will give you two names to get you started. Look for Sirius Black and Tom Riddle."

"Yes Sir. When is it due?" Harry asked.

Quirrell rose and gestured at the door. "Before the end of the year will do. Before you go Mr. Potter, remember this: even in the castle you can't trust everyone and the eyes are the gateway to the mind. Be wary of whose eyes you choose to meet. You are dismissed."

Deeply confused, Harry nodded and left the darkened room.

Minutes later, Harry dropped into one of the large Bronze armchairs at the edge of the common room and started to think.

"Hello? Snap snap Harry! I've called over to you three times now. You seem to be doing your level best to impersonate Binns."

Harry looked up startled at Padma's amused smile.

"Hey Padma?"

"Yeah?"

"When did Quirrell stop stuttering?"

"He's stopped? I hadn't noticed. Why did he keep you behind anyway?" She asked.

"He gave me a project. Feel like helping? We have to keep it quiet though."

"Ooh, secret projects! Can we sleuth? We could get a third year to pick us up a pair of Fedoras in Hogsmeade. What's it about - find the lost recipe of garlic and onion soup?"

Harry smiled at Padma's eagerness. "Sorry to crush your dreams, but it's about something a bit more complicated than garlic and onion soup."

"Okay then, what's it about?"

Harry told her.

**_D_**

Lord Voldemort sat back in his chair. It wasn't the type of grand throne he was used to but there was a sense of power that came with a teacher's chair. From this position he could change lives. He could mould impressionable minds and instil doubt with a minimum of effort.

He watched a confused Harry Potter leave the room and he smiled. The seeds of doubt were sown. Young Potter and his friends were smart enough to follow the large clues he had dropped them. Giving the boy his former name been a stroke of genius. The halls of this castle were filled with trophies and awards, many of which had been won by Tom Riddle, who was an exemplary student. Dumbledore would eventually tell young Potter about the connection between Lord Voldemort and Tom Riddle; it had been a favourite issue of his to crow about during the last war. Fortunately, most of the people he told were now dead.

The boy would hopefully have a hard time reconciling the young and brilliant Tom Riddle with the Dark Lord Voldemort.

The other name he had dropped was more for his own amusement. Even Dumbledore believed that Black had betrayed the Potters. The irony was delicious. Briefly, he wondered what had actually happened to Pettigrew; the little rat was far too cowardly to die that easily.

Thinking of his former followers darkened his mood considerably. Snape had taken to following him around the castle whenever he could. Three times he attempted to retrieve the Diadem and three times Snape had thwarted him. How he would pay when the time came. Fury welled up inside him and he longed for an outlet. His eyes wandered over to the trunk at the back of the room.

Yes, maybe it's time for that particular course of action, he thought maliciously. The half breed oaf should be ruined once and for all. It would make a rather splendid diversion.

The man hoisted a large bundle from the trunk, cast a spell over himself and let the darkness conceal him as he made his way to the Hog's Head.

D

Halloween came and went without any fanfare. The first years had settled and were now acting as if they owned the place. One little thing stopped Harry Potter from thoroughly relaxing into his new world: Professor Quirrell's warning. He had almost expected life in the castle to be a fairytale. It wasn't. He had great friends and he almost felt at home, but life wasn't all it seemed. Quirrell's warning had awakened a new level of paranoia in Harry and everywhere he went he heard the sneers and insults just as clearly as he heard the awestruck whispers. It saddened him but he knew Quirrell was right; he couldn't trust everyone.

One of the people he had noticed sneering at him was Michael Corner. After the incident with Kevin he had become increasingly hostile towards Harry up to the point where he had heard Corner trying to convince Seamus Finnigan from Gryffindor that Harry was the next Voldemort. He had to stifle his laughter when Finnigan's friend Weasley had hexed him and told him to stay away from the Gryffindor table. Weasley was a first class pain but he had his uses.

One other thing that bothered Harry was the 'project' that Professor Quirrell had given him. Even with Padma's help finding information about Tom Riddle was proving to be a difficult task. They hadn't even started researching Sirius Black yet.

On one particularly frustrating evening Padma slammed an old Hogwarts yearbook on the table in the Ravenclaw common room, crossed her arms and stared moodily at Harry.

"This is ridiculous! The yearbooks won't help. We don't even know when this person went to school!"

Harry looked up from the yearbook he was studying. "It's about my parents so it's a safe enough guess that we should start looking around that time frame. It's a long shot but we don't know where else to start do we?"

"What if he didn't go to Hogwarts? There are other magical schools he could have gone to."

"Tom Riddle doesn't sound very French to me, Padma."

"Yes because Padma Patil is a typical old English name. He probably did go to Hogwarts but we don't know that for sure. We need a better plan. Why don't you ask Flitwick? He's been around for long enough," she replied.

"You know, Tom Riddle sounds familiar," intoned Kevin.

Harry jumped. "Where did you come from? You shouldn't be listening in on private conversations."

"Relax, I just overheard while I was walking over. I'm sure I've heard of Tom Riddle somewhere before."

"Where?" asked both Padma and Harry.

"Lemme think for a minute... crap yeah, remember when Filch made me polish the silver after setting that tapestry on fire while practising charms?"

Of course Harry remembered. For some reason the Alohamora spell was even more destructive that the Levitation Charm when wielded by Kevin.

"Well it was on a load of the trophies. Why you looking for him anyway?"

"He was a genius at Runes. I wanted to prove to Harry that he was the top Runes expert in Britain," Padma lied smoothly.

"And I'm telling you that the top Runes expert in Britain is… Sirius Black," Harry said, quite pleased with the fact that he had successfully contributed to a lie.

"Wasn't he one of You-Know-Who's top men?" Kevin asked, confused.

Harry saw Padma's face fall and he hurried to correct his mistake. "Uh…."

"That's a different Sirius Black, Kevin. You should subscribe to Runes Monthly," Padma said excitedly.

"Nah, I'm OK thanks. You two have your weird little Runes thing. I'm perfectly happy with first year concepts. See you guys later." Kevin waved and walked across the common room before disappearing up the stairs.

Harry sighed in relief but Padma cut it short with a smack to his arm. "Don't try to lie; you're no good at it."

"I thought Kevin was muggleborn? How come he recognised Sirius Black and you didn't?" Harry asked.

"Kevin spends all him time reading about the war, how have you not noticed? Anyway, Dad's never really talked about the war at home."

Sensing awkwardness, Harry moved on to a another question. "How weird is it that we've been looking for Tom Riddle for months and in one conversation Kevin tells us where to find out about both of them?"

"Yeah it's strange. Disappointed you didn't pick him to help you?" she laughed.

"Nah, he's too prone to setting things on fire; it would be a distraction. Why do you think I've been asking about the Aguamenti charm?"

"I thought you were just curious. How's that coming by the way?"

"Not great; it's a sixth year spell. I should be ecstatic that I managed a water droplet the other day."

"I still say that was condensation," she teased.

"Bugger off. We can find out about Riddle tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, me too. Think I'll go to bed." They both got up from their seats.

"Goodnight," said Harry as he turned towards the staircase.

"Harry?" Padma asked. "Don't you think it's a bit strange for Quirrell to give you this project in the first place? We just found out that one of the clues he gave you is a Death Eater."

Harry shrugged. "Since when has Quirrell been normal?"

Padma laughed. "I suppose. Night."

**_D_**

"What's the point of having a room to display trophies if it's restricted?" Harry said as he crept through the third floor corridor. A suit of armour creaked and the pair froze; it would be just like Peeves to do his best to mess things up.

It was early on Sunday morning and as a result many of the school's residents - including Filch, he hoped - were sound asleep.

"What's the point of you dragging me down this draughty old corridor at this time on a Sunday morning when the project is only worth fifty points?" Padma asked testily. "I'm sure if we asked Flitwick he'd let us in at a normal time of day."

"I don't want Flitwick to get curious as to what we're doing. Besides, stop moaning - fifty points is a lot; it's more than that Granger girl gets in a fortnight."

"Her name's Hermione and you should be nice; she doesn't have many friends."

Harry pointed his wand at the lock and whispered, "Alohamora". The door creaked as it swung open slightly. Harry slid in followed by Padma and surveyed the room. Old awards, trophies, statues, cups, plates and medals were kept in gleaming crystal display cases. Some were randomly floating around above their heads. "This is going to take all day." Said Harry, despairing.

"It better not; breakfast starts in an hour. You start on that side," directed Padma, pointing to the oddly shaped shelving on the right wall.

"Fine," Harry muttered. "So why doesn't she have many friends? I didn't think Parvati would be the type to leave her out."

"Oh I don't know. Parvati hasn't been the same since we were sorted. If anything she's gotten even thicker," Padma gritted out. "As to Hermione, she just has some insane need to prove that she's as smart or smarter than everyone else. She's a Muggleborn so she probably feels like she's got something to prove. I think Weasley and Finnegan tease her enough that she just avoids everyone."

"Weasley's just strange," Harry muttered. "Lisa said he was building me up as some sort of messiah."

"Yeah but watching him and Malfoy go at it is pretty funny," Padma said with a smile on her face.

Thinking about it made Harry cringe. The first year Gryffindor and Slytherin classes had been gathered on the Quidditch pitch for their first flying lesson. Longbottom had hurt himself and had to be taken to the hospital wing by Madam Hooch. Harry, Padma and Kevin had seen the events unfold from their position near the window of Binns class that faced the Quidditch pitch.

Malfoy seemed to wave at Weasley from his position on his broom.

Malfoy had merely laughed, taunted Weasley and flown higher. Harry had seen what was coming next. Weasley, enraged by Malfoy's taunts, had taken his broom and flown after him. The next ten minutes had consisted of Weasley shakily chasing the blond haired boy around the pitch. Eventually Malfoy had started to look bored and had thrown a small object out across the pitch before coming down to land. Weasley obviously wanted the object and had dove after it to everyone's shock. After a few seconds of freefall, Weasley's hand had closed over the object and the Gryffindors had started to cheer wildly. They were cut off abruptly, however, when Weasley had crashed headfirst into the pitch breaking several bones, a school broom and the object that turned out to be Longbottom's Remembrall.

At the time he'd felt only embarrassment for Weasley but now he chuckled whenever he thought of it. Even Padma had thought it was pretty funny.

"Yeah those two are pretty ridiculous. I'd disapprove of Malfoy goading him if Weasley wasn't so thick. Before Halloween Weasley was moaning about how Malfoy had tricked him into a duel and then instead of showing up he'd tipped Filch off."

"Seriously?" Padma asked. "How in Morgana's name didn't he realise that Malfoy wouldn't honour his word?"

Harry didn't reply, he was too engrossed in the Golden tablets mounted on the wall; it was a list of all the former Head boys and girls of Hogwarts. Harry scanned through the list, hoping to find mention of one of his parents. Sure enough, both James and Lily Potter had their names finely scratched in the glistening gold tablet. His parents were regarded as the finest students in their year; it was another small piece of information that Harry would keep with him.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Padma's voice. "Harry… we've found him."

Harry turned and made his way slowly to the large golden shield Padma was staring at.

_ Tom Marvolo Riddle 1938-1945 Slytherin  
Award for services to the halls of Hogwarts  
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_


	6. Chapter six

Well it's been a while but here's the new chapter. I'm definitly going to be writing more now that it's the summer and the exams are over. Thanks to Mordac for the Beta work, it probably would have been another week without him.

**Diadem Chapter six**

"Three kings." Hagrid announced.

"Oh dear, it seems you've beaten me again, you're a very skilled cards player Hagrid."

The half giant beamed proudly and swept the pile of gold in the middle of the table into a large pouch. "I've gotten mighty good at readin' fellers over the years. Don' feel too bad."

"Obviously", the black cloaked figure drawled. "Hagrid, I hear you're somewhat of a zoologist. If that's true I might have something to persuade you to join in another hand."

"A what?" Hagrid asked.

"An animal lover."

"Oh aye, I love all sorts of beasts, I've even got a signed copy-," the black clad figure interrupted him smoothly; "Very nice, how about one last hand? All that gold for this egg." with that, he placed a large black egg in the center of the table.

Voldemort smiled as he watched the oaf's eyes light up in wonder as he recognised the egg. This was almost too easy.

Hagrid gulped and placed the bag of gold on the table beside the egg. "I'm in."

With that, the cards were dealt and Voldemort found himself looking at quite a nice hand.

"It seems you win again, Hagrid, I fold. Take care of the egg."

The half breed looked like Christmas had come early. "I will, you're a good gent, sir, a good gent." He reached across the table to shake hands. Reluctantly, he shook the drunken half breed's hand and hurriedly made his excuses.

Lord Voldemort exited the old pub and walked briskly down the empty street. It irked him to realize just how far he had fallen. As a leader, he was never afraid to get his hands dirty, but neither did he socialize with half breed giants; even if it was for the sole purpose of ruining said oaf.

He had always hated the village of Hogsmeade; it brought back memories of being forced to stay behind in the school while his peers wasted their time trying to obtain alcohol and prank supplies. He made a mental note to burn this backwards village and replace it with something more befitting of the area's grandeur.

_**D**_

"I cannot express how disappointed I am at this turn in events, Albus. Pass the mercury would you? I trusted you with an item of unimaginable power. Your decision to hand it to the goblins was dubious at best; we both know those creatures can't be trusted."

"My friend, nobody has ever successfully broken into Gringotts and lived to tell the tale. I intended it as a gesture of good will and trust to the Goblin nation. We will need their support if Tom succeeds in restoring his body**,**" Dumbledore said as he handed the small vial to the alchemist.

Nicholas Flamel was one of the greatest alchemists ever to have lived, nimble with a wand of course, but nothing spectacular. No, Flamel's power was his ability to work wonders with the basic elements that made up the earth. Only two people in Albus Dumbledore's life had ever had the power to put him in a position where he felt well and truly scolded. One was locked away forever and the other was hunched over a cauldron**,** busy bathing a golden nugget in a mixture of dragon's blood and mercury.

"Ripple this for me would you?" Flamel asked, as he strode to an elegant bookshelf. Dumbledore did as he was asked and started to chant slowly over the simmering cauldron, causing the dull red liquid to ripple repeatedly.

"Nicholas, this formula is dead. I've tried it countless times and have never succeeded."

"On the contrary, child. This formula is the key to many doors." Flamel walked back towards the now bubbling liquid and produced a handful of fine silver dust.

"Unicorn horn? Tell me, what makes you think that it won't cause the dragon blood to react violently?" Dumbledore asked sceptically.

Flamel ignored his former apprentice and threw the handful of dust into the cauldron. Dumbledore sprang back and hastily erected a shield between the cauldron and the two wizards, while Flamel merely raised an eyebrow. Looking at the cauldron, Dumbledore saw that the elixir had turned a milky white.

"I knew that the two compounds would not react violently, because of the conditions in which the horn was prepared. You are still a child, Albus. Your assumption that you have anywhere near my knowledge of the art of alchemy is just as flawed as your assumption that somewhere out there, there is a goblin who can be trusted. If I want someone to conjure me a new piano, I'll contact you. Until then, when it comes to an object like the stone, you defer to me. Your motives were worthy of praise, but deep down you know that goblins are vermin and cannot be trusted."

Flamel bottled some of the elixir and handed it to Dumbledore. "Your error of judgment with the stone has forced my hand. Take this elixir and go; Perenelle has foresaw your need of it in the future. In the meantime, I will recreate the stone, the original is of limited use to Riddle while he remains without a body."

"Thank you Nicholas, I fear your aid will be needed in the future."

"As do I, Albus. The next time you visit, leave your arrogance at Hogwarts; it is ill befitting of one with your past."

_**D**_

As the Ravenclaw common room slowly emptied, Padma let out a frustrated sigh and snapped her book shut.

"I don't understand Harry. What has Riddle got to do with this? He was a model student, he helped close the bloody chamber of secrets!"

"I don't know, maybe he knew my parents."

"It doesn't fit. Not with what we've found out about Black."

Padma chose her words carefully, ever since they found an old copy of the Daily Prophet which detailed Black's role in the Potter's death, Harry had been quiet.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

"Not really much to talk about. He was their friend and he delivered them to Voldemort. I'm glad he's in Azkaban."

"The whole point of this project is to come up with a new theory, Harry. Maybe it isn't that simple."

"Maybe, maybe not, anyway, something Quirrell said got to me. I think we need to find out more about Voldemort."

"There's plenty of books in the library, but I'm guessing you aren't thinking Ministry approved?"

"No, we need an unbiased source."

For a moment, Padma looked pensive**;** finally she said, "I suppose I could ask my Dad, he's pretty anti-Ministry, but I've never heard him mention Voldemort before."

"Not many people do as far as I can tell**.** I'm going to check the student rosters in the library."

"Harry, wait. We've been at this for weeks, it's interesting**,** and I can see it's important to you**,** but how about we take a break for a while? When was the last time we just messed around with Lisa and Kevin?"

"Besides," she chided "The library's been closed for two hours."

Harry looked at the floating dials on the common room wall: the library had indeed been closed for some time. _'I'm getting obsessed with this.'_ He thought, half shocked.

"Okay," he said, in a much cheerier tone, "How about we go see some more of the castle?"

"It's ten o'clock, pillock, don't you think that's a bit...Gryfindorish?"

Harry shot her an incredulous look**.** "I'm an eleven year old kid in a magical castle**;** this place is too cool for me to be worrying about whether or not I'm evil, smart, brave or loyal. The whole thing's a bit ridiculous, anyway."

"You realize that this system has been the cornerstone of every British wizard's childhood for the last thousand years?" said Padma with a smirk.

"Still dumb."

"Think of it this way**:** it keeps the purebloods away from the mudbloods. Everyone wins."

"My, aren't you vulgar tonight? Besides, that Granger girl is muggle-born and you're friends with her. Feeling a bit hypocritical these days?"

"You know what I meant." Padma replied with a frown. "Besides, Hermione's a decent witch, not like Justin. He's one of the reasons purebloods think muggleborns should be separated."

"In a couple of years Fletchley might become a great wizard." Replied Harry as they left the common room.

"Some people just have it and others don't. Do you seriously think he'll amount to anything more than a store clerk? Hermione has the potential to be whatever she wants."

"Actually, I think he's considered pretty well off in the muggle world."

"That doesn't count for much here Harry."

As they exited the common room the darkness of the hallway seemed to surround them. Never having been out of the common room so late they were understandably scared. Together they walked in silence, down the long corridor and descended a large staircase to the floor below. The castle was eerily quiet, with only the occasional harsh squeak**,**, coming from what Harry was sure were the suits of armour. Even the portraits were deathly quiet.

"This isn't as cool as I thought it would be." Padma said, feigning nonchalance. "We should probably go back."

"Scared?" Harry asked in a quiet, teasing manner.

"No, this just doesn't seem to be a great idea. We could get caught and get in a lot of trouble**; **or worse**, w**e could easily trip and break our necks." She said in a whisper.

Harry had to admit she was right. Grudgingly he said, "Alright, let's go back up, you we-" Harry was cut off by the sound of a loud hiss. He looked down to see a bedraggled looking cat staring up at him menacingly. He turned to look at Padma but she was already kneeling down to pet it. The cat let out a furious hiss and lashed out at her. Claws met flesh and Padma jumped back with a shout of surprise and pain.

"Students out of bed! I'll get you now you whelps." The gleeful shout echoed down the long passageway and Harry felt a cold terror creep down his spine. He should have realized that it was Mrs. Norris, the old caretaker's cat. He froze in place, convinced that they were going to be caught and expelled. Padma grabbed his arm and hauled him around, causing him to regain his senses.

Together they sprinted away from the scene with Mrs. Norris in hot pursuit. She cursed and aimed her wand behind her, casting a leg locking jinx. The air rippled around her wand and with a horrible screech the cat toppled forward on it's face.

They turned right and ran up a small, dusty staircase that wound into the ceiling. Behind them they heard a cry of anger. "You've assaulted my cat; I'll have you strung from the ceilings!"

They kept running**,** the cold night air tearing at the back of their throats**,** until they emerged from a small alcove on the floor above. A long, plain hallway, without even a suit of armour**,** greeted them. The only decoration was a tapestry of a wizard being savagely clubbed by a troll in a tutu.

They looked around in a panic. "Where are we?" panted Padma.

"I don't know." Harry replied. Behind they heard the old caretaker wheezing his way up the staircase; they looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry thought he saw a flicker of movement, and suddenly, there was a door. Recognizingtheir best chance, he seized Padma's hand and hauled her towards it. They entered a small cramped place that was devoid of light that smelled strongly of... urine. Padma hit him on the arm roughly as they both gagged.

They froze with tension as they heard muttering from beyond the door. This was it. Harry had chosen to hide them in the only room in a long deserted corridor, a room that Harry was now sure the old caretaker would catch them in. Through a small gap in the wood, he saw Filch pause. Sweat formed on his forehead as he felt Padma tense beside him.

"Buggering fuck." came Filch's voice. "Why do I keep losin' 'em here, missus? There can't be a passage I don't know of."

A single irritated meow responded. "They'll pay for that, missus. I'll get you fixed up in no time and those Weasleys will pay dearly. The Headmaster won't let them away with it now; oh no, not after they've attacked you**,** my dear." The whispered rant was followed by a series of nauseating smooching and nuzzling noises. Beside him, Harry felt Padma shake with silent giggles. He couldn't blame her, he was fighting to hold in his own laughter.

After the footsteps faded away, the dark haired girl beside him proved unable to restrain herself and burst out in laughter. Harry gave in immediately and joined her.

"That was... that was the most pathetic thing I've ever heard in my life." She said, trying to catch her breath. "He even thinks we're the Weasleys."

"Who else would be stupid enough to jinx Filch's cat?" Replied Harry, looking pointedly at her. A gesture that was futile in the darkness.

"I just wish this place didn't smell of pee."

Immediately the room's air freshened and the stale smell of urine disappeared. Their laughter trickled off. "I'd like some light too?" She offered tentatively. Light flooded the cramped space and they were greeted with the sight of an ornate chamberpot.

"I've never seen a lavatory like this before." Padma said quietly.

"This sort of thing isn't normal?" Harry asked.

"A room that does what you want without the use of a wand? No, I doubt it's too common."

"I don't remember seeing this room at all when we first got to the corridor. I just kept wishing we had somewhere he wouldn't look in to hide. And wouldn't this room be an obvious place to check? Why didn't he?"

"I don't know, all I want to know is how we're going to get back to the common room without getting caught. I don't fancy Filch figuring out that I jinxed his precious."

Before she had even finished speaking the ornate chamberpot dismantled itself and sank backwards into the wall. The room grew around them, more torch brackets springing from the expanding stone walls. A large open space now lay before them, the only decoration was a portrait of a small man who bore an uncanny resemblance to a bullfrog. The figure in the portrait started but before it could gather it's wits, the frame swung forwards revealing a long passage.

Harry looked at Padma, astonished. "Do you think...?"

"Why not? Tonight can't get any weirder." She said diplomatically.

Coming to an agreement, they set off down the long corridor. After what seemed like an age of stumbling through the darkness, they came to a solid stone wall.

"Dead end. What do we do now?" She asked wearily.

"I don't know." Harry replied. He walked forward and tapped the wall with his wand hopefully**.** To his surprise the area around the wand**'**s tip glowed softly and some of the stones began to shift and separate. Before long, there was a gap in the wall large enough for both of them to exit the passage. They moved forward and emerged in a small alcove behind a marble statue**:** in the Ravenclaw common room. They looked at each other, astonished.

"That is brilliant. Padma we need to find that room again."

"What room?" Padma and Harry turned around to see the confused face of Penelope Clearwater. "Why are you two out of bed so late? I didn't see you come down here."

"We... were researching a project and thought this would be a good place to clear our heads." Harry answered awkwardly.

"In a dark annex of the common room?"

"Yes, it's cooler here, there's a nice draft." said Padma.

"A draft? Right you two are too young for this sort of thing. I'm scheduling a meeting with Professor Flitwick for you tomorrow. And just because you're famous Harry, don't think that you can just woo any girl you want. I thought you at least had more sense, Padma."

"What?" The girl beside him half screamed.

"No arguing. Now go to bed and don't let me catch you at this again." With that the fifth year prefect spun on her heel and marched up the staircase.

Padma turned to Harry, her face flushed with embarrassment. "I am never doing something that stupid with you again."

Harry watched feebly as she followed in Penelope's footsteps, leaving him confused and without a clue as to what had just happened.

_**D**_

The next morning Harry made his way to the great hall for breakfast, exhausted from the previous night's excursions. He sat down beside Kevin and filled his plate with food.

"What had you up so late last night?" Asked Kevin. Harry looked up to see the smaller boy peering curiously at him.

"Just reading**.** I didn't notice the time." He replied evasively.

"Oh, ok. The next time you're out sneaking around can I come?"

Harry choked on a piece of bacon and stared at Kevin. "What?"

"Padma just left. She was in a really bad mood and muttering about you being an idiot. If you were reading all night why would she be mad at you? She knows you like reading and you're her friend. Either you two were out or you offended her in someway."

"Uh, ok, next time you can come. I don't know why she's in a bad mood though, we didn't really get ca -," Harry was cut off by the sound of loud protests coming from the other side of the hall.

Professor McGonagall was standing at the Gryffindor table having a heated discussion with the Weasley twins, while Filch stroked his cat with a smug smile on his face.

"It wasn't us!" One of them said.

"Believe me, we'd bloody well like to but we're innocent this time."

Harry grabbed some bacon and toast and whispered to Kevin, "Come on, we have to go." Kevin caught the panicked look on Harry's face and complied. The two of them exited the hall without being noticed and headed for the stairs.

"What was that about?"

"The caretaker's cat was jinxed last night. I don't think he's handling it well."

"The Weasley twins didn't do it did they?" Kevin asked nonchalantly.

"No, but they probably would have eventually." Harry replied diplomatically. "And besides, once they get over the punishment it'll do their reputation good."

"Ok, but I'm definitely coming next time."

Harry looked at his friend whose face was set in determination. "Ok, we found something cool and I don't think Padma's up for another jaunt anyway."

Harry walked away from the great hall with the protests of the Weasley twins fresh in his mind and a strange sense of anticipation.


End file.
